Cleansing device for rotary rock drills



Aug. 7, 1956 P. c. O'LEARY CLEANING DEVICE FOR ROTARY ROCK DRILLS FiledAug. 16, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR O 6 7 7 2 m Q A 2 5 3 A: i 5 f vI 9 3 III 9 7 3 1/ 4 2 J T4 FL |1|| L n L 4!\ J 6 6 PAUL C. O LEARY BYHIS ATTORNEY Aug. 7, 1956 p c;. O'LEARY 2,757,905

CLEANING DEVICE FOR ROTARY ROCK DRILLS Filed Aug. 16, 1952 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR PAUL C. 0' LEARY HIS ATTORNEY 2,757,905 PatentedAug. 7.,,. 1.95.6

United States Patent Oflice 2 Claims. (Cl: 255-49).

J2, assignorto Ingersoll- New York, N. K, a corporation of Thisinvention. relates, to. rock. drilling mechanism, and. more particularlytotai cleansing device, for pressure fluid actuated. rock, drills, of.the. rotary type.

Heretofore, in. the, use. of, devices of; the; type,-.to which the,present invention pertains. it. has, been. the, practice to utilize; thepressure. fluid thatdriyes thermistor. serving to rotate the drilling,implementonly, for; that. function nd o use a cons ant stream. t,pressure fluid directly: from the source of supply for blowingthecuttings, from the .hole being, drilled. Thisrnode of. operation,ll'lt addition to being wasteful of power. medium, is, also highly, ojectionable from the standpoint. of. the, noise: which res l s. when,the fluid is. exhausted directly. from he; o or. into. the. atmosphere.

It is accordingly an object; of the. present invention, ominiinize thepower. costtor operating th trocle drill.

Ano her. object is to" obviate the objec ionable: noises. casioned by;the. exhaust. fluid discha gin irectly m he rock. drill. to the atmasher t.

Qther objectswill,beinpartcbyioustand in narttpointed ut, hereinafter.

In the. drawings; accompanying. this specification and in. whichsimilar. reference numerals. refer. totsimilar. R s

Fig r 1 is. a sideelevation,.pa tly, broken, aways at a rotary rockdrilliequippedwith acleansing.devicetccnrstructed in accordancetwithltheprac ice oft he innenticm.

Figure. 2. is an, elevati n, partly. in section, of. the. drive ingelement. offthe. rock drill,

Figure 3,. is. asimilar. view fa. detail, nd.

Figure 4; is a transverse. view taken hrough, Eigyre; 2 on the line 4-4looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

R f rring more particularly. tathe, drawings, 20 designates, in general;a' rotaryrock drill and 21 a drill rod WhiCh is rotated. by. therockdrill? 20 The drill rod carries. a cutting bit 22. shown as-beihg; ofthe-insertdiamondf. type; andv extends into the forward end of thecasing 23 where. it. is. supported and. guided by a pair 0ft relatively,spaced. antirfriction, bearings 24 and 2S:

Rotary motion. is imparted tothe. drill rod 21 by a pressllwfiuidiactuatedmotor 26ttheaoasing 27 of which is; seatedi upon a. surface 28,-attherearward end of the stem 41 that extends into and; isinterlockinglyengaged with the crank, web;34 coaxially' with the, crank.shaft 30.

Withinthe valve 38ris a passage: 42 having a port 43. at its forwardend: for; registry with. passages 44, in; the bushing 40. and. in, the.-casing: 27, leading to the outer ends of the: cylinders. 29.; The,pressure fluid; enters the passage 42 through a port; 45-, in the valve38,, that. is in. constant. communication. with. an annular groove 4.6in the. inner surface; of! the bushing 40; and into which pressure fluidflows. from. a supply conduit. 47 through apassage 48in the: valve chestand in the.- bushing 40;

In order to prevent the; motor speed: from risingto an excessively high.rate in. the; event that the cutting bit 22 enters a void or a pocket ofsoft material in, the roclc formation, the motorv 26 is: provided With:a suitable governor 49-for controlling; the rateof flowofpres sure fluidto the. valve.v 38.; The; governor 49. is interposed: in the supplyconduit. 47 and its housing 5.0! is mounted uponxtherearwardlendz of thecasing; 27. The. governor comprises. a spring opposed valve 51 whichis,reciprocable in; the. housing 50 for1 controlling communication between;branches. 52 and.- 535 of the supply, conduit 47 attached to, thehousing 50; at points, lying in. spaced parallelplanes;

The valve 51 is actuated.- fon throttling; the flow oil: pressure. fluidfrom one branch conduit to anotherv bycentrifugallyactuated. weights 54which; are; pivotally, mounted upon abracketSS in. the housing 50. andhave arms 56 in.engagement. with the end of a stem; 57 on: the. valve.5-1 for lifting; said valve. The. bracket 551s.

. carried. by.- a shaft! 58- that, extends through. the: casing asing Z3and to which, it. may. be secured in any suitable; manner Thenmotor. 26.is. of the. rnulti-pistorrv type. Its;cy1inders,29t are. arranged in-V-fashiom about: a: crank shaft: 30, and. eachcylinder 29 contains: a:piston; 31;, the rod 32. of which-is connected to a common crank pin 33having crank-webs 34 and 35. The crank shaft 30 extends forwardlythrough the casing 23, in parallelism with the drill rod 21, and carriesa pinion 36 that meshes with a gear 37 which is carried by the drill rod21 and located between the bearings 24 and 25.

The distribution of pressure fluid to the cylinders 29 is controlled bya valve 38 arranged in a valve chest 39 mounted upon the rearward end ofthe motor casing 27. The valve 38 is rotatable within the chest 39, moreparticularly, within a bushing 40 in the chest, and has a 27 and carriesa pinion 59 which meshes with a gear; 6,0; on.the. cranlc.shaft 30} Inaddition to: e-ficcting the: distribution; of pressure: fluid:- to. theCylinders 29, the: valve 38 also. controls the. exhaust. of. fluid.from. the cylinders-.. It is,, accordingly; provided with a: passage 61thatextends; endwise of; the; valve. and has. a port: 62. opening; intoits periphery for. communication withthe-passagesa 44. The oppositercndaof. the: passage 61. opens; into, a: chamber 63 located in:the;valve*chest .39 at.the rearward: endof the; valve and:atconduit64-extendssfrom thechamber 6,3 totthe casing 23,. to which.- itis attached by" bolts, 65,; ion conveying thefluid exhausted. bytheamotor' tor a chamhen 66s in: the casing 23 and which chamber is inconstant come municaticnt with; a; passage- 67: extending; from end end.of the; drill? rod 21 Owing; to: this; arrangement all: of. the. fluidexhausted by the motor 26:- will, pass to;

the; working surface. for blowing, the Cuttings; from the;

surfa'.ce ,fr,e,eof. cuttings, but. when. drilling rock that is.

moist the. cuttings tend. to; adhere. to. thewall. of, the, drill:

hole, particularly adjacent the cutting, bit,. and may ac? cumul'ate inquantities thatwill clog thetdrillholes Totthe end" that occurrencesof'thi's nature may be obviated,

the rock drill is provided with means for selectively directing anuninterrupted stream ofcleansing fluid, at full lihepressure; intothedrill hole' whenever required. A conduit 68% isaccordingly extendedfrom the supply conduit 47 to the conduit 64 to by-pass the valve 38 anda valve mechanism, designated 69, controls the flow of pressure fluidthereinto from supply.

The valve mechanism 69 comprises a casing 70 which is secured to therock drill casing 23 by bolts 71 and is interposed between the supplyconduit 47 and the conduit 68. The casing 70 is recessed to provide avalve chamber 72 and passages 73 and 74 that communicate with the supplyconduit 47 and the conduit 68, respectively, and open into the valvechamber 72 at relatively spaced points along its length. Communicationbetween the passages 73 and 74 is controlled by a valve 75 having a pairof heads 76 and 77 which are connected by a stem 78 around whichpressure fluid flows from the passage 73 to the passage 74 in what maybe termed the open position of the valve.

The valve 75 normally occupies a position in which the head 76 coversthe passage 73. It is held in that position by a spring 79 interposedbetween the valve and a plug 80 forming a closure for one end of thevalve chamber 72. The opposite end of the valve chamber 72 is alsoclosed by a plug 81, and the end of the valve 75 adjacent theretoconstitutes an actuating surface 82 which may be selectively subjectedto pressure fluid conveyed to it by a conduit 83 connected to the plug81 and having a manually operable valve 84 where by the flow of pressurefluid to the actuating surface and the exhaust of such fluid to theatmosphere may be controlled,

In the operation of the device, the valve 38 is rotated by the crankshaft 30 to bring the port 43 successively into registry with thepassages 44 for charging the cylinders 29 and the port 62 is brought, inlike manner, into communication with the passages 44 for effecting theexhaust of fluid from the cylinders into the chamber 63, whence itpasses through the conduit 64, the chamber 66, and through the passage67 in the drill rod into the drill hole for expelling the cuttings.

Whenever the exhaust fluid from the motor is found to be inadequate tokeep the drill hole free of cuttings pressure fluid is valved, bymanipulation of the valve 84, to the actuating surface 82 of the valve75. The valve 75 will then be shifted to uncover the passage 73 andpressure fluid will flow, in an uninterrupted stream, from the passage73 into the passage 74 through the conduits 6864 and associated passagesinto the drill hole.

The valve 84 may be manipulated to vary the pressure value of the fluidacting against the actuating surface 82 for shifting the valve 75 toeither a partially or a full open position, depending upon whether it bedesired to supply a heavy or a moderate flow of pressure fluid to thehole being drilled. By suitably restricting the pressure fluid throughthe valve 75 into the conduit 64 the back-pressure adjacent the valve 38may be held to a sufficiently low value to preclude stalling of themotor and the motor may then continue to rotate the drill rod to assistin breaking up any compacted mass of cuttings that may have accumulatedin the drill hole.

From the foregoing description it will be readily apparent to thosefamiliar with the art that by utilizing the exhaust fluid of the motorinstead of a constant jet of pressure fluid from supply, as a medium forcleansing the drill hole, the power cost of operating the drill will begreatly minimized. Moreover, the oil entrained in the pressure fluid andwhich is usually introduced thereinto for lubricating the parts to whichthe pressure fluid has access will also be carried into the drill holeinstead of being disseminated in the atmosphere adjacent the drillingsite, and the objectionable exhaust noises will be entirely eliminated.

I claim:

1. In a rock drilling mechanism adapted for rotary drilling only andoperable by compressed gas, the combination of a rotary drill rod havinga passage for con veying such fluid for cleansing therethrough, a'rotarytype drill bit on the rod,-a compressed gas actuated rotation motorconnected to drive the drill rod, a compressed gas supply line for themotor, a rotary valve for the motor for controlling the flow ofcompressed gas to and the exhaust of such gas from the motor, conduitmeans for conveying such exhaust gas from the rotary valve to thepassage, a by-pass line for compressed gas leading from the gas supplyline to the conduit means and bypassing the rotary valve, a pressurefluid actuated valve mechanism in the by-pass line to control the flowof such gas therein, said valve mechanism including a casing havinginlet and outlet passages communicating with the gas supply line and the,by-pass line, respectively, a reciprocable valve member having acylindrical head sealingly slidable in said casing and interposedbetween said inlet and outlet passages for controlling the flow ofcompressed gas therebetween and having a second head at the opposite endthereof having an end face adapted to be exposed to pressure fluid toactuate the valve to its open position, a spring constantly urging thevalve member to the shut-off position, a pressure fluid supply conduitto the casing adjacent said end face of the valve; and a manuallyoperable valve in said line adapted to control the flow of such fluid tosaid end face of the valve.

2. In a rock drilling mechanism for rotary drilling only and operable bycompressed gas, the combination of a rotary drill rod having a passagefor conveying such fluid for cleansing therethrough, a rotary type drillbit on the rod, a compressed gas actuated rotation motor connected todrive the drill rod, a compressed gas supply line for the motor, arotary valve for the motor for controlling the flow of compressed gas toand the exhaust of such gas from the motor, conduit means for conveyingsuch exhaust gas from the rotary valve to the passage, a by-pass linefor compressed gas leading from the gas supply line to the conduit meansand bypassing the rotary valve, a pressure fluid actuated valvemechanism in the by-pass line to control the flow of gas thereinconsisting of a reciprocating spool type valve member having a pair ofheads, a casing having ports associated by the by-pass line andcontrolled by one of the heads, a supply line to the casing adjacent anend face of the other said head for motive fluid to actuate the valveand, a manually operable valve in the last said supply line to controlthe flow of fluid therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

